I’m the granddaughter of a grower, a horticulturist, and a pioneer who supplied the Eastern United States with delicious fruit and beautiful plants for decades. Growing up, I learned early that fertile fields don’t just happen—you prepare them. You walk the boundaries, test the soil, remove the rocks, and pray for rain. You learn to trust that the seeds you plant will bear fruit in time. That rhythm—preparing, sowing, tending, and trusting—has shaped how I see the church and the mission of God. Jesus tells a story in Matthew 13 about a sower who scatters seed with generous abandon. Some falls on rocky ground, some among thorns, and some on good soil that produces an abundant harvest. The sower’s work is not to force the growth, but to prepare the soil and make room for the Spirit’s increase. I think that’s what we’re doing in the Fresh Expressions movement—cultivating the kind of soil where the gospel can take root in the hearts of people who might never find their way into a sanctuary. When the Fields Called Wesley In the spring of 1739, John Wesley faced his own “field moment.” His friend George Whitefield invited him to preach outside the walls of the church—literally, in the open air—to miners and laborers who would never set foot in an Anglican parish. Wesley was hesitant. He had been formed as an Anglican priest, faithful to the order and rhythm of the church. But when he saw the crowds who were spiritually hungry yet far from the pews, he wrote in his Journal: “At four in the afternoon I submitted to be more vile, and proclaimed in the highways the glad tidings of salvation.” — John Wesley’s Journal, April 2, 1739 Today, fewer than 1 in 3 Americans attend church services regularly, with only about 20% attending weekly and over half (57%) rarely or never participating in traditional religious gatherings. Meanwhile, nearly 30% of Americans now identify as religiously unaffiliated—a number that continues to rise each year. https://news.gallup.com/poll/642548/church-attendance-declined-religious-groups.aspx Yet, research consistently shows strong spiritual curiosity. For example, a recent study found that 66% of U.S. adults—even across generations—say they have made a personal commitment to Jesus that is still important today, and nearly a third of all Americans consider themselves “spiritually curious” despite not attending church. https://georgebarna.com/2025/02/most-americans-believe-in-a-supreme-power/ These trends echo the challenge that John Wesley faced—many people are unlikely to come inside church walls, but they remain deeply open to spiritual conversations and new expressions of Christian community outside traditional settings. That moment changed everything. Wesley didn’t abandon the Church of England; he sought to renew it from within by reaching those it had overlooked. His heart was not to create a rival church, but to extend the reach of grace—in his words to, “spread scriptural holiness throughout the land.” He knew the gospel could not be contained within the walls of even the most faithful parish. That is the beauty of the Methodist movement and perhaps what I most highly regard in Wesley’s theology. This important contribution to contemporary to Christian theogy is a both/and ness or as Wesley scholar Paul Chilcote refers to it “conjunctive theology” rather than either/or theology, that fleshes itself out in practical ways across our bridgebuilding tradition. Preparing the Soil Then and Now Wesley’s decision to take to the fields was not rebellion—it was reclamation. Both/And. He understood, as Jesus taught in Matthew 13, that the Word of God often meets resistance, but when the soil is ready, it multiplies thirty, sixty, even a hundredfold. The condition of the soil, in fact, did not prevent the Sower from scattering it generously if even perhaps, haphazardly. Wesley began organizing those who responded into small groups, or “societies, class meetings, and bands” where people could confess their sins, hear the stories and learn the ways of Jesus, and care for one another. Those early Methodists became gardeners of grace—cultivating holiness through community, discipline, and mission. That same pattern continues today in Fresh Expressions of church. We’re not creating something entirely new; we’re tending the fields Wesley and the circuit riders once rode through, believing again that God’s grace precedes us, is already at work, and wants to reach every person, in every place. We need only tend the soil of our communities. Whether it’s a dinner church, a running group, a recovery circle, or a coffee shop community, these expressions of church echo Wesley’s field preaching: going to where people are, not waiting for them to come to us. Sent in Pairs: Luke 10 and the Circuit Riders When Jesus sent out the seventy-two in Luke 10, He gave them clear instructions: “Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves… Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.” (Luke 10:3–4) He told them to rely on the hospitality of others, to speak peace, and to heal. The mission was mobile, relational, and dependent on the Spirit. Those instructions could easily describe the circuit riders of early Methodism. They traveled light, trusted God to provide, and sought out people who hadn’t heard the good news. They were sent to proclaim grace, form communities of faith, and nurture discipleship in barns, taverns, and on front porches. Quite frankly, this depended on the everyday Christian and the ministry of the laity. The only way the Methodist movement was able to move across the American landscape was due to the empowerment of the laity. Today is no different. The people called Methodist speak to this value in our connectional system. These fresh expressions of church are one more way we can empower and deploy our laity while recapturing our Wesleyan roots like the circuit riders who paved the way for us today. Where might God be calling you to cultivate the soil in your own community? Who are the people on the edges—the ones who aren’t coming to church but whom Jesus longs to reach? How might you go, as Wesley did, to where the people already are? The circuit riders’ lives were marked by both grit and grace. They rode hundreds of miles through harsh weather, often sleeping outdoors (and sometimes even on horseback), driven by a conviction that no soul should be out of reach of grace. Their legacy reminds us that innovation in mission is never about novelty for its own sake—it’s about love that refuses to be limited by buildings or boundaries. Today’s Fresh Expressions pioneers share that same resilient spirit, seeking out the people and places where grace permeates the soil and seeds beg to break through. Cultivating Fields of Renewal Wesley often said, “The world is my parish.” It was both a statement of boldness and humility. He didn’t mean he owned the world; he meant the world was entrusted to him as a field of mission. Every village, every person, every pub, every workplace—each was soil in which the Spirit was at work. Today, our fields might look different—online spaces, neighborhood parks, assisted living facilities, tattoo parlors, or CrossFit gyms—but the call remains the same: to cultivate soil where grace can grow. When we experiment with new forms of church, we’re not forsaking the old fields; we’re expanding the boundaries of the parish. A Call to Go and Grow As the granddaughter of a grower, I know that preparing soil is slow, patient work. You can’t rush a harvest. You have to tend to what’s beneath the surface, trusting that God is already at work long before the first green shoots appear. As a Methodist, I recognize the same pattern in Wesley’s movement. His ministry took root because he went to the people and nurtured what God was already growing. Fresh Expressions today are simply another season in that same story—another generation of Methodists called to go, to till, to tend, and to trust. “I look upon all the world as my parish; thus far I mean, that, in whatever part of it I am, I judge it meet, right, and my bounden duty to declare unto all that are willing to hear, the glad tidings of salvation.” — John Wesley, Journal, June 11, 1739 As Jesus said to His followers in Luke 10, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” (Luke 10:2) The same is true today. The harvest fields around us are ripe—with people longing for belonging, meaning, and hope. The invitation is simple: Go. Prepare the soil. Trust that God is already scattering seed generously. For the “both/and” Wesleys, John and his brother Charles, there was no holiness apart from social holiness. Put another way, there was no holiness of heart apart from life. The linchpin, “The only thing that counts is faith working itself out through love.”-- Galatians 5:6 For the Wesley’s, holiness of heart and life is the goal toward which every Christian life should move. Ask God to show you one “field” near you where the soil might be ready. It could be a local café, a dog park, a recovery meeting, or a place you already spend time. Pray for the people there. Listen for their stories. Ask God how you might join God to bring peace and presence, not programs and plans. Because the same Spirit that sent Wesley to the fields is still sending us— into the world that is, even now, God’s parish.
Advent has become my favorite season in the church calendar. It is the first step in the cycle of light as darkness is dispelled. We often begin the Advent season with these words from Isaiah 9:2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined. Advent focuses on preparation for the 2nd Advent of Christ and his return, the consummation of the Kingdom of God. We are also preparing to celebrate His 1st coming; Christmas and Incarnation, a mission to redeem & rescue humanity. Advent Spirituality has various themes; expectation, preparation, reflection and most of all Advent is anchored in HOPE. Romans 13:11-14 reminds us: You know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness & put on the armor of light; It’s About TIME! Advent calls us to see time not only in calendar days but through the lens of eternity, with an eternal perspective. Hope draws us into a holy longing to see God’s Kingdom come and God’s will being done as in heaven, so on earth. Sometimes this world can be hard, cold, painful, unjust and cruel. We suffer in a harsh and sometimes brutal environment which seems even more so in these days of cultural and political polarization and divide. We often sense a brokeness that we don’t know how to mend. Yet, in Advent we are reminded that this is not the ultimate reality and we are invited to long for a world made new by the grace of God. I’ve lived in Florida for nearly forty years, a place where beauty surrounds me on every coastline—even if hurricanes visit more often than I would like. However I grew up in North Georgia. I’ve always been a mountain boy at heart, most at home in the rarefied air of high altitudes. I may live in a state where the highest mountain is Disney’s Space Mountain, but part of me will always be more at home in steep elevations, peaks and crags and navigating winding, switchback roads. I get glimpses in pictures, postcards and visits to places like Banner Elk, North Carolina or Jackson Hole, Wyoming and the Grand Tetons and now, after a bucket list trip to Scotland, the Scottish Highlands! They create in me a deep longing, reminding me there’s another world beyond the flat land where I now dwell, a vertical world where my heart has taken up residence. I carry these images with me, in my head and on my phone as a reminder of the joy I find in these places. Jesus gave us an equivalent of a collection of postcards from home. In parables, meals, moments of healing, and boundary-crossing conversations, Jesus gave us glimpses of life in God’s kingdom—images starkly at odds with the world as it is. Through prayers, silence, contemplation, deep community and friendships, we can be transported to touch a life where there is no more pain or suffering, no more disease of grief, no more heartache, no more death. Jesus’ stories and interactions serve as a reminder that the world will not always be the way it is. And this kingdom is not only for “the sweet by-and-by.” It is breaking in now . Though we may not yet experience the absence of darkness, we can attend to the glimpses and manifestations of the light of Christ now. Fresh Expressions has this kingdom focus as we see people coming to faith, being welcomed and becoming a part of a faith community, doing life together, exploring the higher aspirations of God’s Kingdom. Whether it’s at a coffee shop, a playground, a gym, a dinner table, you name it - we are seeing the world changed, one life at a time. If one of God’s attributes is that God is truly omnipresent (meaning God is everywhere), we cannot confine God to Sunday mornings and a building where the church meets. Jesus commissioned the church to; go and make disciples and this happens anywhere and at any time. Fresh Expressions is truly an Advent Mission positioned with light and hope in a world desperate for both. We have our own “snapshots” of Kingdom life ( you are welcome to enjoy these stories here ). So in these Advent days, we hope; we trust; we are encouraged. We open the scrapbook, Kingdom Postcards of God’s promises and remember the world to which we truly belong. Hebrews 11 reminds us that our spiritual ancestors “saw the promises from a distance and welcomed them,” longing for a better country, a city and heavenly residence. We too are sojourners—citizens of a kingdom still coming, yet already at work among us. As Augustine would say, We long for The City of God ! Advent is a season of promise. And at Christmas that promise is realized in Jesus. A seminary professor once asked, “Did Jesus fulfill all the Messianic prophecies?” The answer was, “Not yet—but He fulfilled enough of them to assure us that He will fulfill the all of them.” Will this world be made right? Will pain and suffering someday be no more? You betcha! We glimpse it now where self-giving love turns the other cheek, extends grace, crosses barriers, and turns strangers into friends. This is how the Kingdom comes…and we see this happening daily through the Fresh Expressions movement. Advent gives us a promise to hold. Let us cling to it with hope and expectation as each week we light another candle and through our lives, manifest that light in the world.
What if the things you already love could become the very place God’s mission comes alive? Mindy and Nathan Heimer share how a passion for paddle boarding, their love for God, and deep care for their community have come together to form a beautiful ecosystem—one where God’s mission is growing and their business is blossoming. In this episode, we explore what it looks like when vocation, faith, and everyday life intersect, and how paying attention to what you already love can open unexpected doors for mission. Nathan and Mindy Heimer are the owners and founders of A Stoked Life! A Stoked Life has many different layers to it, two of which are a paddleboard rental and retail business with a coffee shop inside, and a New Worshipping Community. The goal is to create a place for people to belong before they believe - and do all of that with a bit of adventure! Both Nathan and Mindy are Colorado natives and love nothing more than spending time in God’s creation. They have two boys who keep them busy and love to be with them. This season, we’re diving into the streams of Fresh Expressions — from senior adults and recovery ministry, to arts, outdoors, recreation, and more. Each month, you’ll hear directly from practitioners who are navigating these fresh ways of being church in the world. Their stories will spark your imagination and encourage you to see where God is already at work in your community and how you might join in! So whether you’re a pastor, lay leader, or simply curious about how church can thrive beyond the walls, join us for Season seven of the Fresh Expressions Podcast. Related Resources:
What if faithfulness in rural ministry isn’t about moving faster—but about listening longer? In this episode of the Rural Renewal Podcast, we hear from PJ and Melanie, two co-pastors planting a church in southwestern Virginia who have learned to let prayer, patience, and presence set the pace. They share honestly about discerning God’s leading, choosing slowness in a culture that rewards speed, and remaining open to change—even when it’s uncomfortable or costly. Their story is a reminder that deep roots are formed through intentional prayer, trust in God’s timing, and the courage to adapt for the sake of the people God has placed before us. Patrick “PJ” Johnson serves as a network administrator for Scott County Public Schools, Lead Pastor of Uplift Church in Weber City, Virginia, and an adjunct faculty member at the Appalachian School of Theology. He and his wife, Amanda, planted Uplift Church in their home in 2012. Patrick and Amanda have been married for 24 years and have four daughters. Melanie McMurray is married to her husband, Matt, and is raising three children, Elijah, Elan, and Salem. She serves as an administrator in Scott County Public Schools and as the children’s ministry director at Uplift Church. Melanie is also stepping into a new role as vice president of the Appalachian School of Theology. Related Resources: Join our Facebook group: Rural Renewal Podcast Community Email us: podcasts@freshexpressions.com Subscribe & Review Help us get the word out by subscribing and leaving a review for Rural Renewal Podcast on your favorite platform. Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts
In the heart of New Albany, Mississippi, a vibrant rhythm of worship, service, and community rises from a ministry called La Misión, led by Rev. Marta Sobrino Bolen. Born from the vision of New Albany United Methodist Church to reach and embrace its growing Hispanic community, La Misión has become far more than a church program—it’s a living expression of the Gospel in two languages and many forms. Each week, families gather for worship, food, tutoring, and friendship, echoing the anthem that defines their identity:
The Table @ Ocean Shores story was updated on January 5th, 2026 . In a coastal town where storms roll in quickly and many neighbors carry quiet stories of loss, isolation, or mistrust of church, a table has become holy ground. The Table @ Ocean Shores gathers each week in Ocean Shores —not for a traditional worship service, but for a shared meal. What began as a simple act of hospitality has grown into a Dinner Church community where dignity is restored, relationships are formed, and faith is given room to breathe. As Sandy Johnson describes the heart behind the gathering, the vision is clear and deeply rooted in prayer.
I’m the granddaughter of a grower, a horticulturist, and a pioneer who supplied the Eastern United States with delicious fruit and beautiful plants for decades. Growing up, I learned early that fertile fields don’t just happen—you prepare them. You walk the boundaries, test the soil, remove the rocks, and pray for rain. You learn to trust that the seeds you plant will bear fruit in time. That rhythm—preparing, sowing, tending, and trusting—has shaped how I see the church and the mission of God. Jesus tells a story in Matthew 13 about a sower who scatters seed with generous abandon. Some falls on rocky ground, some among thorns, and some on good soil that produces an abundant harvest. The sower’s work is not to force the growth, but to prepare the soil and make room for the Spirit’s increase. I think that’s what we’re doing in the Fresh Expressions movement—cultivating the kind of soil where the gospel can take root in the hearts of people who might never find their way into a sanctuary. When the Fields Called Wesley In the spring of 1739, John Wesley faced his own “field moment.” His friend George Whitefield invited him to preach outside the walls of the church—literally, in the open air—to miners and laborers who would never set foot in an Anglican parish. Wesley was hesitant. He had been formed as an Anglican priest, faithful to the order and rhythm of the church. But when he saw the crowds who were spiritually hungry yet far from the pews, he wrote in his Journal: “At four in the afternoon I submitted to be more vile, and proclaimed in the highways the glad tidings of salvation.” — John Wesley’s Journal, April 2, 1739 Today, fewer than 1 in 3 Americans attend church services regularly, with only about 20% attending weekly and over half (57%) rarely or never participating in traditional religious gatherings. Meanwhile, nearly 30% of Americans now identify as religiously unaffiliated—a number that continues to rise each year. https://news.gallup.com/poll/642548/church-attendance-declined-religious-groups.aspx Yet, research consistently shows strong spiritual curiosity. For example, a recent study found that 66% of U.S. adults—even across generations—say they have made a personal commitment to Jesus that is still important today, and nearly a third of all Americans consider themselves “spiritually curious” despite not attending church. https://georgebarna.com/2025/02/most-americans-believe-in-a-supreme-power/ These trends echo the challenge that John Wesley faced—many people are unlikely to come inside church walls, but they remain deeply open to spiritual conversations and new expressions of Christian community outside traditional settings. That moment changed everything. Wesley didn’t abandon the Church of England; he sought to renew it from within by reaching those it had overlooked. His heart was not to create a rival church, but to extend the reach of grace—in his words to, “spread scriptural holiness throughout the land.” He knew the gospel could not be contained within the walls of even the most faithful parish. That is the beauty of the Methodist movement and perhaps what I most highly regard in Wesley’s theology. This important contribution to contemporary to Christian theogy is a both/and ness or as Wesley scholar Paul Chilcote refers to it “conjunctive theology” rather than either/or theology, that fleshes itself out in practical ways across our bridgebuilding tradition. Preparing the Soil Then and Now Wesley’s decision to take to the fields was not rebellion—it was reclamation. Both/And. He understood, as Jesus taught in Matthew 13, that the Word of God often meets resistance, but when the soil is ready, it multiplies thirty, sixty, even a hundredfold. The condition of the soil, in fact, did not prevent the Sower from scattering it generously if even perhaps, haphazardly. Wesley began organizing those who responded into small groups, or “societies, class meetings, and bands” where people could confess their sins, hear the stories and learn the ways of Jesus, and care for one another. Those early Methodists became gardeners of grace—cultivating holiness through community, discipline, and mission. That same pattern continues today in Fresh Expressions of church. We’re not creating something entirely new; we’re tending the fields Wesley and the circuit riders once rode through, believing again that God’s grace precedes us, is already at work, and wants to reach every person, in every place. We need only tend the soil of our communities. Whether it’s a dinner church, a running group, a recovery circle, or a coffee shop community, these expressions of church echo Wesley’s field preaching: going to where people are, not waiting for them to come to us. Sent in Pairs: Luke 10 and the Circuit Riders When Jesus sent out the seventy-two in Luke 10, He gave them clear instructions: “Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves… Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.” (Luke 10:3–4) He told them to rely on the hospitality of others, to speak peace, and to heal. The mission was mobile, relational, and dependent on the Spirit. Those instructions could easily describe the circuit riders of early Methodism. They traveled light, trusted God to provide, and sought out people who hadn’t heard the good news. They were sent to proclaim grace, form communities of faith, and nurture discipleship in barns, taverns, and on front porches. Quite frankly, this depended on the everyday Christian and the ministry of the laity. The only way the Methodist movement was able to move across the American landscape was due to the empowerment of the laity. Today is no different. The people called Methodist speak to this value in our connectional system. These fresh expressions of church are one more way we can empower and deploy our laity while recapturing our Wesleyan roots like the circuit riders who paved the way for us today. Where might God be calling you to cultivate the soil in your own community? Who are the people on the edges—the ones who aren’t coming to church but whom Jesus longs to reach? How might you go, as Wesley did, to where the people already are? The circuit riders’ lives were marked by both grit and grace. They rode hundreds of miles through harsh weather, often sleeping outdoors (and sometimes even on horseback), driven by a conviction that no soul should be out of reach of grace. Their legacy reminds us that innovation in mission is never about novelty for its own sake—it’s about love that refuses to be limited by buildings or boundaries. Today’s Fresh Expressions pioneers share that same resilient spirit, seeking out the people and places where grace permeates the soil and seeds beg to break through. Cultivating Fields of Renewal Wesley often said, “The world is my parish.” It was both a statement of boldness and humility. He didn’t mean he owned the world; he meant the world was entrusted to him as a field of mission. Every village, every person, every pub, every workplace—each was soil in which the Spirit was at work. Today, our fields might look different—online spaces, neighborhood parks, assisted living facilities, tattoo parlors, or CrossFit gyms—but the call remains the same: to cultivate soil where grace can grow. When we experiment with new forms of church, we’re not forsaking the old fields; we’re expanding the boundaries of the parish. A Call to Go and Grow As the granddaughter of a grower, I know that preparing soil is slow, patient work. You can’t rush a harvest. You have to tend to what’s beneath the surface, trusting that God is already at work long before the first green shoots appear. As a Methodist, I recognize the same pattern in Wesley’s movement. His ministry took root because he went to the people and nurtured what God was already growing. Fresh Expressions today are simply another season in that same story—another generation of Methodists called to go, to till, to tend, and to trust. “I look upon all the world as my parish; thus far I mean, that, in whatever part of it I am, I judge it meet, right, and my bounden duty to declare unto all that are willing to hear, the glad tidings of salvation.” — John Wesley, Journal, June 11, 1739 As Jesus said to His followers in Luke 10, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” (Luke 10:2) The same is true today. The harvest fields around us are ripe—with people longing for belonging, meaning, and hope. The invitation is simple: Go. Prepare the soil. Trust that God is already scattering seed generously. For the “both/and” Wesleys, John and his brother Charles, there was no holiness apart from social holiness. Put another way, there was no holiness of heart apart from life. The linchpin, “The only thing that counts is faith working itself out through love.”-- Galatians 5:6 For the Wesley’s, holiness of heart and life is the goal toward which every Christian life should move. Ask God to show you one “field” near you where the soil might be ready. It could be a local café, a dog park, a recovery meeting, or a place you already spend time. Pray for the people there. Listen for their stories. Ask God how you might join God to bring peace and presence, not programs and plans. Because the same Spirit that sent Wesley to the fields is still sending us— into the world that is, even now, God’s parish.
I’m a Holiness, Pentecostal, Anabaptist. You won’t find that combination coming together very often anywhere, but I have found that all three streams work well within the Fresh Expressions movement. Some might assume that the Holiness/Pentecostal part makes sense with Fresh Expressions, but how can the Anabaptist part work? Afterall Fresh Expressions is a movement founded within the Church of England? How does Anabaptist belief and practice fit with that? Let’s remember that the Fresh Expressions movement took root in the fields of post-Christendom England just a few decades ago. Christian leaders among the church of England noticed that people were gathering in places outside the four walls of the church buildings to encounter God. Relational connections, networks of friendships were organically forming for mission in places of hurt, brokenness, marginalization. And outbreaks of the Spirit were happening. People were finding Christ in fresh and new ways. The church was happening among people that would never “go to church.” To their credit, the Anglican church leaders asked how can we support these movements and cooperate with what God was doing. Thus started a movement, the Mission-Shaped Church movement, as one of the founding documents was titled. It led to the Fresh Expressions movement in the UK and spread to North America. The Anabaptist movements have their origins 500 years ago in Europe, in the fields of post Christendom as well. In this case though, the Anabaptists were openly rejecting the Christendom alignment of church, state and culture. But like present-day Fresh Expressions, they represented the movements of Jesus happening outside the sanctioned four walls of the church and it’s hierarchies. As such, the two movements both started with Christians gathering outside the sanctioned practice and programs of the established church. And so we might expect that there’s much to learn from each other. Allow me to explore a few places where some of these learnings can happen. Christian leaders among the church of England noticed that people were gathering in places outside the four walls of the church buildings to encounter God. Post Christendom The medieval structures of the church, sponsored (and paid for) by the state, organized the church towards buildings, placing church authority in the offices of the priest/bishop, and coordinating the worship service and other programs of the church towards a uniform liturgy for all churches across the world. It was all part of Christendom. Anabaptists critiqued all of this, much of it for good reason. And this gave impetus for a reexamination of church outside the structures of the four walls of the Christendom church. In some ways, Fresh Expressions is doing today what Anabaptists have been doing for 500 years, the birthing of church expressions outside the walls and programming of institutional structure. Along with all this came an Anabaptist suspicion towards what had become the centralized leadership structures of the church and its proclivity towards hierarchy. Plagued with corruption, and abuse of power, Anabaptists left these medieval church hierarchies for more collaborative, organic forms of leadership. They sought to develop leadership “among” a people, not “over” a people. Five hundred years later, as we try to organize church outside the four walls of the church, what Fresh Expressions calls a ‘blended ecology,’ leadership will need to be organic in similar ways, doing the work of coalescing groups on the ground into the work of the Spirit. Anabaptists have some theology and history to offer Fresh Expressions in these tasks. But of course, it goes without saying, as with all movements, that over time institutions and bureaucracies get set in their ways. Five hundred years of Anabaptist history has shown how some of the best ideas on collaborative leadership, mutual and communal discernment, can go awry. Fresh Expressions has much to offer Anabaptists in this regard. Their work in training and developing new kinds of leaders can reinvigorate the Anabaptist work of developing leaders. Fresh Expressions can reinvigorate old histories, while Anabaptists can help in not repeating old mistakes. If Anabaptists have the history, Fresh Expressions has the energy. Anabaptists bring wisdom. Fresh Expressions brings the ”fresh” eyes. Together, I believe, a dialogue can ignite both for the work of Christ’s kingdom. If Anabaptists have the history, Fresh Expressions has the energy. Community and Discipleship Anabaptists see the church as more than a collection of individuals who gather to receive religious goods and service from the professionals. American churches have sometimes fallen into that trap. Fresh Expressions and Anabaptists alike resist that consumer approach to church. For Anabaptists, the community is central to the life of the believer. This Anabaptist focus wards off the consumerist tendencies of our culture. For Anabaptists, fellowship around a table at a potluck meal is almost sacramental. It is a special place to encounter Christ. The church is an alive organism of the Holy Spirit whereby we discern life together and the salvation made possible in Jesus Christ becomes real and lived together. Christianity is not a religion. Church is not a set of programs. It is a way of life given to us in Christ, lived out under His Lordship over a community, made possible by the Holy Spirit. Discipleship moves to the forefront for Anabaptists because Christians can no longer depend on the culture of Christendom to support Christian life. It must be the church community itself that generates culture and life sufficient to nurture our souls into faithfulness. And so the church as a community, alive with the gifts of the Spirit, eating meals at a table, discerning the teachings of Scripture, become a whole way of life that disciples believers into the Kingdom. There can be no consumerism here. This changes the way we think about ecclesiology. Anabaptists focus on practices, that shape beliefs into behavior. The questions we ask shift. When is a community just an affinity group, when is it mission, when is it discipleship? What is the core practices of discipleship and community that ground us in Jesus? As Fresh Expressions builds communities and practices for building communities outside the church, the wisdom of Anabaptists is helpful. The Anabaptist focus on practices, not only beliefs or programs, is helpful. And yet, as Anabaptists seek to avoid their own communities from becoming insular, coercive or sectarian, they can learn communal formation for mission all over again at Fresh Expressions. Together, Anabaptists and Fresh Expressions together, in dialogue, can ignite both for the renewal of the kingdom in our neighborhoods. The Kingdom Versus creedal formulas, Anabaptists tend to focus on Jesus first, his whole life, his proclamation of the Kingdom of God coming in his presence. The gospel is the whole life of Jesus, his victory over sin, death and evil. And so salvation hardly makes sense apart from Jesus’ preaching of the Kingdom of God, the inauguration of the Kingdom, and the living in that Kingdom now in anticipation of its future. Salvation can never be only personal, it is intensely social. And salvation can never be only social, it is intensely personal andn transformation as I personally follow Jesus and make Him Lord of my life. It is this full gospel, the gospel of Jesus Christ, and its inextricable link to the Kingdom that takes us beyond the individualist formulas. The Christendom forces in our history will always tempt us to turn salvation in Jesus into a formula Anabaptists of all streams can learn and be invigorated from the. But we must resist and learn the ways of calling people into something deeper. This is the heart of Fresh Expressions, it seems to me. Anabaptists can help Fresh Expressions with this call to something deeper. But sometimes Anabaptists can also get caught into an echo chamber. Over time our language and skills of communication lose the ability to engage the world outside the church. Fresh Expressions is ever pressing into how we can communicate the gospel of Jesus Christ and His Kingdom into broken places. Once again, I believe, that Anabaptists and Fresh Expressions together, in dialogue, can ignite a renewal of evangelism and witness to the kingdom in our neighborhoods. Courage for new adventures must take hold. We’re In New Territory Now In summary, if there’s one thing I have learned from both Anabaptists and Fresh Expressions, it’s that once we understand the social dynamics of the new post-Christendom cultures, our entire missiology and ecclesiology must shift. Old habits must die. Courage for new adventures must take hold. And God is calling us into these new fields of post-Christendom to do mission. And for this calling, I am so blessed to have partaken of both the Anabaptists streams and Fresh Expressions streams of theology and practice. I pray God brings these two great historical movements together more in the future to accomplish great things for the Kingdom of God in Jesus name.
